History was created on Tuesday when a 17-seater Dornier aircraft landed at Pasighat airport in the East Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh. This was a maiden commercial flight from Assam’s Dibrugarh district to Pasighat by Alliance Airline.
The flight carrying many heavyweights including Union Minister Kiren Rijiju and J. Scindia marks the start of commercial operation of fixed-wing aircraft in the state.
The Dibrugarh-Pasighat-Lilabari-Dibrugarh route will see operations twice a week from 18 April. The services will be operated by Alliance Air under the regional connectivity scheme UDAN.
There are plans to expand the commercial flight services to Ziro, Mechuka, Tuting, Tezu in the coming months.
With Hollongi airport expected to start operation from 15 August onwards, it looks like things are moving in the right direction.
The start of inter-state and intra-state commercial flight services will not only help the people of the state but also aid the tourism sector. The development of airports and advanced landing grounds will cater to the needs of high-end tourists too. Chief Minister Pema Khandu who has been pushing hard for improving the aviation sector of Arunachal Pradesh deserves special mention for the start of commercial flight in the state. However, the start of commercial flight service is just the beginning. The service has to sustain in the long run and for this state government has to create a conducive atmosphere. They have taken the first step by slashing the VAT on air turbine fuel from 20 percent to 1 percent. More such steps should be taken in the future.